Many aspects of modern commercial aircraft are manufactured in accordance with the particular requirements of the aircraft owner. One such aspect is the arrangement of the various components within the cabin of the aircraft, including the galleys, lavatories, passenger seats, cargo containers, section partitions, and other aircraft components. With conventional payload structure design, additional structure within the cabin of the aircraft is typically added as needed to account for larger than average loading caused by heavy monuments (e.g. lavatories, galleys, etc.) set between the floor and ceiling. When there is a need to move such monuments to different locations within the cabin of the aircraft, the floor, and potentially the walls and ceiling, need to be designed (or redesigned) to account for all potential monument locations.
For example, FIG. 1 is a side, partial cross-sectional view of a conventional support structure 50 and a payload assembly 52 in accordance with the prior art. FIG. 2 is a top elevational view of the conventional support structure 50 and payload assembly 52 of FIG. 1. The conventional support structure 50 includes a plurality of seat tracks 54 that extend longitudinally along the cabin of the aircraft. The seat tracks 54 are adapted to be coupled to a plurality of seat assemblies or other aircraft components, which may be positioned at desired locations along the seat tracks 54. Supplemental support members 56 are interspersed among the seat tracks 54 and extend beneath one or more of the payload assemblies 52 (FIG. 2). A plurality of floor panels 58 are disposed between the seat tracks 54 and the supplemental support members 56. At the edges of the floor panels 58, sealant is installed in the gap between the floor panel 58 edges and seat track 54 & 56 edges and sealing tape 60 (not shown), which is several inches wide, is installed over the sealed gap to minimize leakage between the floor panels 58 and the associated seat tracks 54 and supplemental support members 56. Finally, plugs 62 are installed in the unused, exposed portions of the seat tracks 54 and the supplemental support members 56 in some areas of the cabin.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the desired locations of the payload assemblies 52 (e.g. galleys, lavatories, etc) often do not lineup with the seat tracks 54, so that the supplemental support members 56 must be added to carry the loads. To move a payload assembly 52, such as a galley, to make room for changes in seating configuration or changes in layout, a lengthy series of tasks must typically be performed. For example, a galley area mat (not shown) must be removed. Next, payloads where the galley is going to be placed must also be removed (setting off another chain reaction of tasks). Sealing tape and sealant around where the initial position of the galley must be removed. Similarly, floor panels around the initial position of the galley must be removed. Sealing and sealing tape around the periphery of each of the floor panels must be removed, and the galley must be disconnected and moved out of the way. Next, old system interfaces must be removed and terminated (e.g. power, electronics, waste, air, heat, etc.), and new system interfaces that the new galley location must be designed, manufactured, and installed. The galley is then moved to the new location and installed, including connection of system interfaces, manufacture and installation of new floor panels, installation of sealant between the floor panels, installation of sealing tape over all floor panel edges, and installation of a new galley mat.
Although desirable results have been achieved using the conventional support structure 50 and payload assembly 52, there is room for improvement. For example, the supplemental support members 54 are typically added over the entire portion of the aircraft cabin known as the flex-zone in which the payload assemblies 52 may be desirably located so that they will not need to be added later when a move is desired. Unfortunately, this practice increases manufacturing costs, and also adds unnecessary weight to the aircraft which increases operational costs. Therefore, novel support structures and payload assemblies which at least partially mitigate these characteristics would be useful.